policy, on veterans, serving our military families and our service members. >> gabbard joins illinois' tammy duckworth as the first two female combat veterans sworn into office. gabbard takes that responsibility seriously. >> it's kind of amazing that it's taken this long because we've had women who've raised their hands and volunteered to serve on the frontlines dating all the way back to the civil war. and the fact that we have over 1.8 million women veterans across the country, women who are leaving their families, leaving their jobs, leaving school behind to go and serve our country every single day is a story that hasn't been told enough. women face unique challenges in military service but also bring unique contributions that also need to be talked about. so that's one thing that i look forward to being able to do is to be a voice for this huge constituency of selfless heroes that hasn't really had a firsthand voice or a strong voice here in congress >> and for gabbard, being in congress is about serving the people, not about partisan bickering. >> when you look at a lot of the